St. Ignatius Church and School to be Redeveloped by Loyola, Ignatian Mission Center

A plan by Loyola and the Ignatian Mission Center (IMC) to redevelop both the St. Ignatius Church and the corresponding school is entering its next phases. 

The mission center, a group focused on community action, faith and Catholic Social Teaching in Rogers Park and Edgewater, is planning to repurpose the church and rectory to use as a community center and refuge for Spanish-speaking women facing domestic violence. 

Loyola plans to demolish and rebuild the grammar school to create more housing for students. 

The redevelopment processes for both buildings, which are located at 6559 N. Glenwood Ave., are on their own timeline, but Loyola and the IMC are working collaboratively to execute the project, according to the IMC.  

The St. Ignatius grammar school closed in 1994 due to a merger with Northside Catholic Academy, according to Loyola Media’s St. Ignatius parish records. In 1995, the Chicago Waldorf school moved into the building until moving to Andersonville in 2018. The school was then owned by the St. Ignatius Parish until the Archdiocese of Chicago gained ownership in 2021. 

The IMC and Loyola went forward with proposing development plans for the lot at a town hall meeting in August 2022, presenting to the 49th ward and community members. 

Director of Neighborhood Initiatives at Loyola Jennifer Clark is a leading voice on the university’s plan to demolish the school.

In order to enact a zoning change, Loyola must get a request approved by city council, according to Clark. She said details of the redevelopment plan are being communicated through forums and public surveys via links on the 49th Ward newsletters. 

Due to the age of the school building, the necessary guidelines weren’t met for the property to be used for housing, Clark said. To combat this, the university plans to level the land and begin the demolition process in early 2027 once approved. 

Clark believes the redevelopment is necessary for student housing purposes. In order to match the need for student housing, more infrastructure needs to be owned and built by the university, Clark said.

“An adaptive reuse of all of the buildings on that campus is financially not feasible,” Clark said. “It’s in no way ADA accessible.” 

Clark said the project addresses the high demand for university-owned housing for students. The redevelopment will also combat the housing crisis in Chicago, she said. 

The five-floor complex would hold 64 units and include amenities like laundry rooms and study zones, according to a Flow Page created by Loyola’s Department of Community Relations, who didn’t respond for comment. 

“More and more upperclassmen are applying to live in housing, and we just can’t accommodate that,” Clark said. “Our hope is that we can relieve some of that pressure on the rental market.” 

Second-year theater major Sierra Gulick said she believes increased construction for the university isn’t a necessity. She said the cost of dorms doesn’t provide a cheaper option compared to renting a property that’s not university owned.

“I think our dorms are too expensive,” Gulick said. “I’m excited to move off-campus.” 

Alongside Loyola’s student housing project, the IMC is working to repurpose the church and rectory, which closed from an archdiocese merger in 2021. 

IMC Executive Director Liam Ford said the new location would be more fitting to the large groups they feed and service. The IMC and its food pantry are currently located at 1735 W. Greenleaf Ave. Ford claimed a bigger space would be very beneficial. 

“The 900 or more people who we serve every week would be better served in a larger facility,” Ford said.  

Ford and Clark both said Loyola and the IMC have plans to preserve Jesuit history. Ford said sacred spaces at the church would be preserved and religious events would still be held.

“We’re hoping to have the church designated as an archdiocesan shrine,” Ford said.

In August 2022, the IMC and Loyola went forward with proposing development plans for the lot at a town hall meeting, presenting to the 49th Ward and community members.

Fr. Dan Hartnett, a retired Loyola professor and current chaplain of the Ignatius Volunteer Corps, said when construction is finished, both groups could collaborate on the space and its usage. 

Hartnett said the rectory could be a place that would benefit the community and university. 

The rectory is in the works of becoming a transitory house for Spanish-speaking women facing domestic violence, Harnett said. This way, students could gain experiences at the house that would widen their cultural perspective and help them become more intertwined with the community, he explained. 

Harnett said he believes university programs, like the School of Social Work and the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, could be of help to the center with opportunities for students to volunteer their care with children and their mothers. 

Hartnett said he’s been heavily involved in this process. He previously worked in the House of Peace in Waukegan, II, a center which caters to victims of domestic violence. His success there inspired the new project with the rectory. 

The House of Peace followed a six-month plan focused on healing, recovery and rejuvenating Spanish-speaking women. Hartnett said he plans to follow a similar concept at the Rogers Park location. 

“If you’re healing, you want to heal with people that speak your language,” Hartnett said. “If you don’t, it’s just going to be another experience of alienation.” 

Representatives from both institutions expressed they were looking forward to seeing the outcome of the plan. 

“We would want something that would be part of the Rogers Park community,” Hartnett said. “That would become a very positive, constructive, presence within the Loyola community.”